“A Broken Heart – A Call to Prayer”

Posted on Jun 19, 2015

June 19, 2015

My heart broke as I heard the first reports about the execution of nine people attending a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. My initial reaction was to pray and invite others to join in prayer. It was all I could do.

I continue to pray, but God has stirred up my soul to pray for so much more than I did in those first hours. I pray with deep compassion for families, friends, a congregation, a city and a state as they deal with the loss of those they love. I pray for all who increasingly resort to horrific acts of violence as a way of dealing with life. I pray for every human being who hates – and far too often demonizes – those who look, act and talk differently. I pray for a world so fundamentally alienated from God that people are alienated from each other. I pray that those who offer prayers in the face of this tragedy actually will take time to listen to God. I pray that there will be a movement of people of faith who repent and seek reconciliation with those who have been the victims of injustice far too long. I pray that the United States of America finally will have the will to address the racism that began so long ago and continues today. I pray that God’s Will shall finally be as real on earth as it already is in heaven.